Obsession
by cdghuntermco
Summary: During his studies about the real Shepard, the Clone learns Shepard was in a relationship with the compelling Ashley Williams. Now the Clone has his sights set on every aspect of Shepard's life: his identity, his ship, and his lover. Warning: contains stalker themes, and may be triggering for some.
1. Chapter 1

_Author's Note: I want to go ahead and warn readers about the content of this story. It contains stalker themes and might be triggering for some. As such it is not recommended for all readers. _

Mass Effect is owned and operated by Bioware and Electronic Arts

Obsession – Chapter 1

* * *

The Clone was starting to worry her.

He'd been rather quiet over the last few days. That in of itself wasn't a bad thing; the real Shepard tended to be somewhat soft spoken as well. But this was not a natural silence. This was the kind of silence that surrounded oneself when you became resolutely focused on a single task or idea. Leaning on the doorframe to his room, Hope Lilium looked upon the Clone, a sense of dread settling in her chest as she watched his single minded quest.

The teaching had been going well. He'd been learning everything there was to know about Shepard; his moves, his tactics, his mannerisms. The Clone had been watching playbacks of Shepard's missions during his stint with Cerberus when things started to change.

The mission on Horizon. The Clone ignored everything useful to be gleaned from the events, from the Collector connection with the Reapers to how Shepard and his team operated. No, instead the Clone became fixated with one single person.

Ashley Williams. Hope knew Shepard had bumped uglies with his crew member back during the Saren mission, but she'd done her best to keep that little piece of information away from the Clone. What did it matter who Shepard slept with? When the Clone became Shepard, he could have his choice of any number of mates. Multiple of them, probably. Why should the Clone care about some military grunt?

But Hope didn't know about the falling out Shepard had with Williams after the colony was saved. Didn't know Williams confessed she had loved Shepard. That was what took a hold of the Clone's attention. Hope tried beating it into him that love did not exist, that it was a silly trick people played upon themselves. But he never listened. The Clone believed in love, and he had found someone to fall in love with.

From there his studies had completely veered off, no longer about Shepard, but about Williams. He meticulously read through every bio he could find, memorizing details from her early life, to her middle years, and through her military career to the present date. She'd become quite the confidant among the Alliance, and there were rumors she might be next in line to become a human Spectre.

But his research was not entirely professional. The Clone found every scrap of William's love life he could find, from high school boyfriends to chat room rumors about her affair with Shepard. He went back through old logs of the Saren mission, discovering details he had looked over before that alluded to Williams and Shepard being together.

And now he was just sitting in his dark room, his terminal's low blue light washing over him as he devoured the pages on the screen. The Clone had created a new folder, but this one was entirely purposed to showcasing pictures of Ashley Williams. He'd somehow amassed hundreds of photos. School pictures, stills of her in combat, photographs snuck of her while out and about in casual wear doing more mundane things, nothing was safe. Hope was loath to think of how he would act if he could find pictures of Williams that were more… tawdry.

Hope cleared her throat. The Clone ignored her. She cleared her throat more loudly. He only spared her the briefest of glances before going back to his 'work.'

She sighed and pushed off the wall, walking into the sparse room. "I still don't see how this woman is so fascinating to you," she said condescendingly.

"She's perfect," he whispered reverently.

"Perfect?" Hope sneered. She looked over his shoulder to get a better look at one of the pictures. Sure, Williams had a nice body, and she could certainly fill out a set of armor, and she wasn't all that bad to look at. But there was nothing special about her. Brown hair, brown eyes, a larger than average nose. Williams didn't even possess any biotic or advanced tech skills, choosing to simply be a dumb, gun toting military soldier.

"If you want perfect, why not go after Lawson?" she suggested. "She was practically engineered to be best a human could be."

The Clone shook his head. "That's just it; she was engineered. She's the sum of egotism and genetic manipulation. There's nothing natural about her. Besides, how is she so perfect if she can't even have a child?"

Well, Hope did have to give him that point.

His voice dropped back down to the reverent whisper that unsettled her. "But Ashley is natural. She's perfect because evolution has led to this point, a series of random genetic load outs that have eventually led to her. Strong, beautiful, capable. The only augmentations she has are an in utero treatment that prevented her from being near sighted and a Class-B Infantry Upgrade Package. Ashley was built from her superior genes and her own accomplishments, not what was designed for her."

"You do realize her grandfather was the general who surrendered to Turian forces during the First Contact War, yes?"

The Clone merely shrugged. "I do not believe in punishing the son for the sins of the father. Besides, most people would hide from a heritage like that and shun it themselves. But Ashley did not. She embraced it, and kept moving forward even when the Alliance threw all they had at her to keep her down. If she is not bothered by her family's history, why should I be?"

Hope didn't like how he kept using Williams' first name. Too… personal. "Where are you going with this?" she asked, exasperated.

The Clone finally turned to her with a stoic expression. "What is it you once told me? What I'd become after I surpass Shepard and defeat the Reapers."

She looked at him with a queer expression. "I said you would be like a king, ruling all from upon the stars." Hope also planned on being the New Shepard's adviser, pulling the strings so that the real power always lay with her. But he didn't need to know that.

"Why?"

In a voice devoid of any doubt, he asked, "What kind of king would I be if I had no queen?"


	2. Chapter 2

Mass Effect is owned and operated by Bioware and Electronic Arts

Obsession – Chapter 2

* * *

It was cold in Vancouver this time of year. Today the sky was overcast, and a light drizzle fell down upon the city. The Clone didn't mind. The weather afforded him more shadows. And because his transport left tonight, the Clone dared to move closer than he ever had before.

He sat under an awning, the sole occupant of a restaurant's outdoor eating area today. His hat and his coat were pulled close over his face, lest someone mistake him for the race traitor he would eventually usurp. After blowing up the Batarian colony, Shepard surrendered himself to the Alliance. He and his ship were brought here to Vancouver, the former being put under house arrest and the latter being overhauled by Alliance techs.

But there was one good thing to come out of this: Ashley Williams. She'd been brought in as something of a character witness for Shepard. The Clone has yet to figure out where her Alliance provided apartment is located, but he has come to learn her routines.

She likes the park across the street from where he sits now. Almost every day for the last two months, she has come out here for her midday jog. The Clone has stolen away from Hope and her overbearing mercs whenever he could, choosing to watch Ashley from afar as she runs.

For now, he is content to watch. He spots her in the distance and pretends to busy himself with a data pad, but his eyes watch her intently as she moves closer to him. To hell with Hope. Ashley is perfect in every way.

Her luscious dark brown hair, tied up in a ponytail today, is shiny with dew. Her warm brown eyes are alight with her focus as she perfects her running gate. The Clone's eyes trail further down, to her slender neck and powerful shoulders. Her arms are coiled with muscle but are still gracefully thin. Ashley wears only a black tank top that defines her ample chest even more, and a pair of dark blue work out shorts. Her olive skin glistens with rain and her perspiration, making her shine for him like a goddess. Her stomach is taut and the Clone can see her abs rippled with movement as she runs. He looks further down still, to her slim waist and her enticing hips. Her legs are long and powerful, and the Clone yearns to feel how velvety soft they are under his touch.

He knows he can't actually approach her. Not yet. She wouldn't understand, and he and Hope don't need the extra attention right now.

He's been gradually moving closer, drawing nearer and nearer to Ashley on her runs. First darkened windows from a dozen stories up, then peeking out from sheltered alleyways, and then biding his time inside of cafes or restaurants. Now there may be an entire street standing in between him and his love, but it is still the closest they have ever been.

His continues to watch her as she runs down the sidewalk across the street, his eyes the only part of his body actually following her so as not to draw her attention. When's she out of his sight he looks back to the data pad and activates its mirror function, watching Ashley's miniaturized form run away from him on the device.

He watched her toned calves moved up and down, and the muscles in her back ripple with effort. His gaze lingered on her backside, watching her hips sashay from side to side and her luscious rear bob up and down. Ashley had a figure most women would kill for.

The Clone felt a familiar stirring in his loins, such as he usually does when he watches Ashley like this. He wants nothing more than to feel how strong and soft her arms around him are, to taste her succulent flesh, to hear her moaning his name as he propelled her to ecstasy.

The sound of his communicator buzzing angrily jarred him from his musings, and The Clone sighed, already knowing who was calling him. Activating the call to go to his earpiece, he answered, "Hello?"

"Where the hell are you?" came Hope's biting reply. "We are set to leave in less than two hours and you are nowhere to be found!"

Nonchalantly, he answered, "Oh, well today's the last time we'll see Vancouver in who knows how long. I simply figured one last stroll through the streets would do me good." He hailed a waitress, motioning for a bill so he could leave. Unfortunately because of Hope's distraction, he'd lost sight of Ashley, so there was nothing left for him here.

"Oh don't give me that shit. I know you're out watching _her_ again."

The Clone internally sighed as he paid his bill and exited the café. Hope couldn't understand. Wouldn't understand. She tried so hard to steer his attention away from the Alliance marine, going so far as to hire out prostitutes that looked eerily similar to Ashley for him. But he'd had none of it. He didn't care if Hope couldn't see that Ashley was the perfect woman for him.

"What I do on my free time is my own business," he deflected, making sure his voice came out deeper so no one walking by him might mistake him for the actual Shepard.

"Quite frankly I really don't give a damn what exactly it is you do. But it is not your time to waste. It's _our_ time, and the more you dilly dally fawning over some stupid girl, the more I effort I have to make toward the men convincing them you're not completely off your rocker."

"Ashley is not stupid. She has an I.Q. of –"

"I don't give a shit about her bloody I.Q.! We have to leave, so the sooner you forget about her, the sooner we all can get on with our plans."

The Clone ground his teeth and clenched his hands. Were it not for the fact his life did technically belong to Hope, he would have done away with her a long time ago. He hated the way she would insult Ashley, trying to demean her in front of him. Sometimes he thinks Hope is jealous he loves a woman who isn't her. She can't stand the fact she doesn't have absolute control over him.

But The Clone bit his tongue to stop the pointless argument. He needed Hope. She was the one with the plan. If he ever wanted to meet Ashley and convince her of how much he loved her, he would first have to do away with Shepard. And in order to do that, he needed Hope's help. So he would suffer through the woman's ire and attitude so that he may eventually claim his true prize.

When he didn't answer right away, Hope asked none too kindly, "Am I clear?"

Glowering at the ground he walked on, he answered, "Yes."

"Good. Now get back here. We have to deal with final preparations before we can take off."

"Of course. I'm on my way." He cut off the connection before she could say anything else. Hope Lillium had a bad case of superiority complex, but he could stomach her bossy nature. For now.

_Soon, Ashley,_ he silently promised as he gazed up at the grey sky, small rivulets of water raining down his face like tears. _Soon we will be together. Maybe not today, maybe not this week, and maybe not this month. But soon, my love._


End file.
